The Showreel | 19 [Ft. Southpaw]
Our weekly round up of film news and trailer reviews featuring a six pack, some zombie love and 5 films to watch over the super long weekend… it’s The Showreel!
Film News
Batman Vs. Superman Trailer
There is already much anticipation for the 2016 release of the Zach Snyder directed Batman Vs. Superman film which will combine the two most famous DC Comic heroes in one . The film, with the subtitle Dawn of Justice, will show its first trailer with the release of the forthcoming Mad Max: Fury Road film which is out on the 14th May of this year. Previous to this, some footage was showcased at last year’s Comic Con but the first official trailer will precede the absolutely insane looking Mad Max reboot/sequel/thingy which released a new trailer a few days ago which you can check out here. Our very own Paddy O’Leary has looked at the film in detail over the past few weeks and last week we looked at the first image released of Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor. Other cast members include Ben Affleck as Batman, Henry Cavill as Superman, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Jason Momoa as Aquaman, along with Jeremy Irons as Alfred and Laurence Fishburne as Perry White.
In other DC superhero movie news, further casting has been announced for Suicide Squad with Scott Eastwood and Lost‘s Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje joing the likes of Jared Leto, Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Jai Courtney and Cara Delevingne. Akinnuoye-Agbale will play Killer Croc who will team up with the likes of The Joker, Deadshot, Harley Quinn and Enchantress in the super villain led adaptation. David Ayer (Fury, Harsh Times) will direct his own script in what will be the third release of the DC Cinematic Multiverse, following 2013’s Man of Steel and Batman Vs. Superman next year.
Asif Kapadia’s Amy
Fresh of the success of his wonderful documentary, Senna, about the life and death of Formula One legend Ayrton Senna (which is on TV this week… see below), director Asif Kapadia has released the first trailer for his forthcoming documentary on Amy Winehouse which is simply called Amy. The film will be grafted from interviews with close family and friends, including her husband Blake Fielder-Civil and will span her life from her upbringing to her eventual death from alcohol poisoning in 2011, using archive footage and previously unseen material of the iconic singer. Her battle with drugs and alcohol defined her as much as her music in many ways, and it seems this documentary will shed light into the star’s personal relationship with fame. As it turns out Amy will be in good company this year with a number of high profile music documentaries, along with Alex Gibney’s 4 hour film on Frank Sinatra, Sinatra: All Or Nothing At All, and of course the Kurt Cobain documentary by Brett Morgen, Montage of Heck, which are both due on HBO in the coming months.
Check out the Amy trailer here. The film will be released on July 3rd.
Trailer Watch
Southpaw (2015) Dir. Antoine Fuqua
A boxer fights his way to the top, only to find his life falling apart around him.
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Having recently spent an evening (figuratively speaking) with Jake Gyllenhall and director Denis Villeneuve, watching the superb Prisoners and then being beautifully dumbfounded by Enemy, I have a new respect for Jake Gyllenhall as an actor having previously somewhat berated him for his less than impressive roles in Jarhead and Source Code. His latest outing will be as Billy Hope in Southpaw, from director Antoine Fuqua, which is due for release in July. Fuqua has previously brought us Training Day and is the force behind the (unnecessary?) remake of The Magnificent Seven which is due out in 2017.
First things first. Gyllenhall is absolutely ripped in this trailer, and certainly looks the part of a champion boxer. The rest, however, does seems a bit familiar with a touch of Raging Bull, a sprinkle of The Hurt Locker, a dash of Warrior, a hint of Evelyn and a thorough blanket of movie sporting clichés. While Gyllenhall will probably give a good performance there are concerns for the one dimensionality of the storyline and with Fuqua’s form in the director’s chair (Olympus Has Fallen, Shooter, The Equaliser being proper examples) it remains to be seen whether Southpaw can rise above the floss of sporting comeback mediocrity.
Maggie (2015) Dir. Henry Hobson
A teenage girl in the Midwest becomes infected by an outbreak of a disease that slowly turns the infected into cannibalistic zombies. During her transformation, her loving father stays by her side.
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Zombies are all the rage these days and there have been some recent great attempts at re-inventing the genre whilst others have merely added to the static. The Walking Dead started with so much promise and seemed like a proper, post-modern zombie story but over the course of its 5 seasons it has folded to the common clichés invented by the legendary George A. Romero back in the 1960s. Other attempts such as Warm Bodies, 28 Days Later, Rec have all tried to bring the story in a new direction and now Maggie seems to be trying the same thing.
It certainly has the feel of a brooding, indie slow-burner and undoubtedly you will get a good performance from Abigail Breslin, while neophyte director Henry Hobson is taking the helm after years of making title sequences for Hollywood blockbusters. The elephant in the room is clearly Arnold Schwarzenegger, who actually cries in the trailer. It’s usually alien blood or a droplet of metal alloy that drips of his face rather than actual bona fide man tears so it will be interesting to see if he can pull off a heartfelt, compassionate performance. Whatever he does, it will surely be better than Batman and Robin… surely!
So What Films Are On TV This Week?
Senna – ITV4 – Thursday 2nd April 10.00pm
A documentary on Brazilian Formula One racing driver Ayrton Senna, who won the F1 world championship three times before his death at age 34.
A superb documentary about a superb racing driver. Senna tracks Brazilian legend Ayrton Senna’s rise to Formula One supremacy and ultimately to his untimely death on May 1st, 1994 at the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola, Italy. The heartfelt interviews and thoughtful pacing by director Asif Kapadia, merge perfectly with the savage racing footage. The final scene before Senna’s crash shows his last full lap as a racing driver and is both adrenaline pumping and filled with sorrow. His skill is undeniable right up to the point that his car fails him and takes his life.
Tremors – ITV4 – Friday 3rd April 9.00pm
Natives of a small isolated town defend themselves against strange underground creatures which are killing them one by one.
Turn a good Friday into a great Friday with this classic schlock horror starring Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward. It is a classic B-movie in every way and is both ridiculously funny and rather gripping at the same time. The special effects are crass and the acting is pure ham but it is great fun throughout. It spawned a number of sequels which all have their charm but the first is by far the best and worth a watch with a fist full of popcorn.
A Beautiful Mind – Saturday 4th April 11.45pm
After a brilliant but asocial mathematician accepts secret work in cryptography, his life takes a turn for the nightmarish.
Russell Crowe can really own a screen when he wants and in A Beautiful Mind he is both engrossing and ferociously torn in the thoughtful biopic from the king of safe, Ron Howard. The film also stars Ed Harris who is the bees knees and I wont hear a bad word said about him. A Beautiful Mind won 4 Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director so it must be good.
Skyfall – ITV2 – Sunday 5th April 9.00pm
Bond’s loyalty to M is tested when her past comes back to haunt her. Whilst MI6 comes under attack, 007 must track down and destroy the threat, no matter how personal the cost.
The new Bond film, Spectre, is only around the corner (and by only around the corner I actually mean 9 months away) and has this week released it’s first teaser trailer which shows little but encourages a lot. It will be hard pressed to match 2012’s Skyfall, which was not only a critical success but it was also the biggest box office earner of any Bond film to date. It really is a great film and certainly one of the best Bond films of the last 30 years, with director Sam Mendes and Daniel Craig working a simple revenge story into a wrought and tense, action packed thriller.
Raiders of the Lost Ark – BBC3 – Monday 6th April 8.10pm
Archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones is hired by the US government to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis.
Always a Bank Holiday favourite, this outing of Indiana Jones is probably the best of the series and a perfect way to sooth a monstrous chocolate hangover. Or a regular hangover… whatever your fancy. Harrison Ford is perfect as the daring archaeologist alongside Karen Allen, John Rhys-Davies and Denholm Elliot.
Feature Image credit here.
